


Crimson || Ben 10

by Thery



Category: Ben 10 Series
Genre: Ben 10: Alien Force, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, F/F, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 16:08:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28656222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thery/pseuds/Thery
Summary: Diana wasn't particularly pleased when brokering a trade deal with the Foreverknights turned out to be a lot more troublesome than initially intended. [Ben 10 Alien Force - ???] [Ben Tennyson x OC]
Relationships: Ben Tennyson/Julie Yamamoto, Ben Tennyson/Original Female Character(s), Kevin Levin/Gwen Tennyson, Original Female Character & Original Male Character
Kudos: 5





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I write this fanfiction mostly for myself because I've barely found any Ben 10 fanfictions, so here we go. I also upload the story on Quotev.

_"Here again?", a voice asked from behind Diana._

_She didn't have to turn around to know who it was. He came here often, not that he had a choice. The null guardians search for him every day, here was the only place they didn't bother to look yet and that was precisely why she was there as well._

_"I see you're here too. Once again.", she responded turning around to the boy she once met on the streets of New York, Kevin E. Levin._

_His unnatural form, so unlike what he normally would look like, never seemed to bother her. Kevin knew if she was a normal girl she would have run away from him. Or maybe that was just the sexist and immature eleven-year-old speaking._

_"Not like I have a choice, unlike you.", he said with a bitter undertone. "I still don't understand why you always come here."_

_"I like it here.", she shrugged, letting her legs dangle from the rock she was sitting on._

_"It's terrible here.", Kevin replied, narrowing his eyes._

_"Trust me, it's way worse where I'm from.", she said, an unsettling feeling spreading in her stomach. "Compared to that, the Null Void is peaceful, beautiful almost."_

_"Well, if you like it so much, why not stay?", the boy asked embittered._

_He couldn't imagine any place being worse than the null void. He simply couldn't understand how someone would want to come here by choice._

_"I can't...", Diana answered, her voice breaking at the end._

_Not that Kevin noticed anyway, he was busy being mad at her and feeling sorry for himself. If only he wasn't so damn self-absorbed and oblivious, he would have noticed the way she held her arm close to her body as if it was wounded, as if she was hurt. He would have noticed the bruises, the cuts, the many signs suggesting the unspeakable._

_"Same reason why you won't let me out of here?", he demanded heatedly._

_The girl laughed, pissing him off even more. She did that a lot, laughing at other people's misery. Laughing at troubles she wished she had, instead of what she worried about day by day._

_"Nah, that's because I don't trust you enough, Levin.", Diana teased but quickly became serious again. "But one day I will, **I promise.** "_


	2. Ben 10 Returns

Diana looked bored out of her mind as she sat in the passenger seat of Kevin's beloved car. She let out a sigh, checking her nails before leaning back once again.

"Why am I coming again?", she asked as she let her head rest against the window.

"Because,", Kevin started, annoyed by the girl's little patience. "We are brokering a deal with the Foreverknights tonight and I need you with me for backup, alright?"

"You never needed backup before. Besides, why are we even making a deal with the Foreverknights... tonight? We could be clubbing instead.", the girl complained, crossing her arms and sinking into the seat with an irritated look upon her face.

"Urgh, stop complaining already. If they try to rip us off, I'll need you.", Kevin explained before pulling over. "Now, quiet. We are here."

Kevin got out of the car, followed by Diana. They shut the doors close and Kevin stepped closer to the trucks while Diana remained by the car, leaning on the car top. A shady man wearing a red, hooded cloak walked over and handed Kevin a suitcase. Diana followed the scene with observant eyes as Kevin opened the case and turned to the Seller.

"Money's here.", he told them.

One of the men nodded to the other. They unloaded the truck, wheeling out a bunch of metal cases. Diana rolled her eyes. If she wanted to see a shady trade deal happening she would have stayed at home and watched a shitty spy movie from the 80s. Diana stifled a laugh. When are the good guys coming out, she would have asked. But she holds her tongue and kept quiet, knowing how important this deal was for Kevin or better, the money.

Kevin opened one of the cases and took out one of the laser lances.

"As promised, four dozen factory-new laser lances.", he told the knights, holding up the weapon as he started explaining. "Ether-point energy module, antenna-focus emitter."

He stepped away from trucks to demonstrate as he continued talking.

"It’s good for 35 minutes of continuous fire at .06 terawatts. Is that good?", he asked ere firing the weapon. "You tell me."

Diana scoffed. He really just wanted to blast it, she could tell by the self-satisfied look on his smug face. Immediately they started to load the weapons from one truck to the other. Kevin turned back to her and walked towards her. 

"Great, so that's that. Can we go now?", Diana asked as Kevin came to stop in front of her.

"Not yet. Once they finished loading up the truck we get our payment, then we can leave.", he said.

"Man, can they hurry up or something?", the girl whined. "I'm starving. If we don't get to a club soon I'll-"

"Hands above your heads, air breathers. By authority of the Plumbers, you’re all busted.", a new voice was heard from behind the men loading up the truck.

"Plumbers? What are Plumbers doing here?", Kevin exclaimed, teeth clenched.

"Better question, how did they find out?", Diana asked, standing up straight as she watched some of the men tearing off masks, revealing hideous octopus-looking aliens beneath them. "Kevin, come on. We should leave."

"No, not without payment.", he said stubbornly.

"Kevin.", she urged as the boy started walking closer to the creatures.

"They probably already saw us.", he argued.

"So what? We can still leave while they're distracted. Let's not get tangled up in this mess.", Diana tried to reason but the boy didn't listen.

Suddenly something caught his eye. Or better someone.

"Wait... isn't that....", Diana muttered as she too noticed the person.

"Ben Tennyson? Also known as your first love?", Kevin spit his name with such disgust that she almost missed the last part.

"He's not my first love.", she denied firmly. "It was a tiny crush, let it go, Kevin."

"Sure, whatever.", Kevin rolled his eyes. "He's still going to pay for what he's done to me."

"Kevin dear, what did we say about anger management?", Diana asked in a playfully scolding tone. 

But Kevin didn't even bother to acknowledge her. Before Diana could even protest he ran off.

"This boy will be the death of me...", she sighed. 

Diana looked at the mess Ben left behind after he transformed into that plant-looking alien. The fallen truck, as well as the scattered Foreverknights and aliens, made her let out a sigh, but as Kevin jumped in front of Ben's alien form, Diana could have sworn she felt physical pain from his stupidity. 

"Hey, Tennyson.", Kevin smirked.

"What do you want?", Ben asked annoyed.

"Let’s see.", Kevin started, being his usual dramatic ass. "You trap me in the null void for all those years."

"You did that to yourself.", ben returned.

"And you’ve ruined my deal today. I’m thinking I want revenge. The good news is since I can absorb anything,", Kevin bent down and absorbed the iron of the train tracks. "I’ve got more than enough power to take it."

Diana leaned against Kevin's car once again, propping up her arm on the car top and resting her cheek on her fist. She was still deciding whether or not she should watch Kevin getting his ass handed to him here or on top of one of the nearby standing containers. However, as she noticed Ben's cousin and the water alien plumber slowly freeing themselves from the alien slime she decided that the view would be a lot better on the top of a container. 

Diana transformed into her real form, her human skin turning crimson red, horns growing out of her forehead, curving upwards, and a pitch-black pointy tail sprouting from her coccyx, wrapping around her leg before teleported onto the top of one of the containers where she sat down. She silently laughed as Kevin's hand got stuck inside of Ben Tennyson's alien form, wishing she had some popcorn with her. Sadly her joy didn't last long, so after a few more minutes of Kevin throwing stuff at Tennyson, she got bored. Eventually, Ben blasted fire at Kevin and knocked him out. Diana bit her lip before letting another sigh escape her. Great, now she needed to save him too. 

She watched as Kevin got his hands cuffed and was surrounded by the Tennysons and the Plumber. Diana chose to teleport on top of the container Kevin was laying next to and wait until he was conscious again before departing with him. Hopefully, he wasn't too badly hurt, but the girl wasn't all too worried. After all, he endured worse.

Diana turned back into her human disguise and watched as her friend slowly regained consciousness again. She smirked as she watched him groan and helplessly struggle against the energy cuffs. This was gold, literally perfect blackmail material.

"Energy cuffs.", the plumber explained. "You can’t escape. Ain’t nothing there to absorb."

The three were so focused on the boy on the ground that no one even noticed her. Slowly, Ben turned to his cousin, looking at the back of her head.

"You still got some of that stuff in your hair.", Ben told his cousin, pointing at the spot.

"Other side.", Kevin told her.

Gwen let out a noise of disgust and started to clean it out as the Plumber stepped closer to the boy still sitting on the ground. 

"Time we had a talk, tough guy.", the water creature said, holding up one of the weapons Kevin and Diana just helped selling. "These weapons run on ether-point energy cells, a dangerous technology way too advanced for humans. They shouldn’t even be on this planet."

"So?", Kevin tilted his head in a questioning manner. "How’s that my problem?"

"While we were fighting, the Forever Knights got away with a crate full of them.", Ben said with an accusing tone.

"You set up the deal.", the Plumber continued. "You’re going to tell me where they are."

Kevin looked to the side. He didn't want to show it but he felt kinda ridiculous being handcuffed and caught for this deal. He also was mad for not getting paid and was wondering where Diana sneaked off to or better yet when she decides to get him out of this situation. Knowing her, she was probably nearby laughing at the embarrassing state he was in and would save him as soon as she was finished. Which in this case, could take forever.

"Kevin,", Gwen stepped closer to the boy and gently put a hand on his shoulder. "people could be hurt."

Diana watched as the frown on Kevin's face replaced itself with a 'surprised' look slowly turning into awe with his mouth slightly ajar. Somehow, Diana didn't like that at all. It probably meant something that would come back bitting her in her ass later on.

"You’re in a lot of trouble, son.", the Plumber said, making Gwen step back but Kevin's eyes didn't leave her just yet. "I’m giving you a chance to help yourself here."

"You don’t have to convince me.", Kevin finally said, smirking up to the Plumber as he stood up. "Those guys ran off before I got paid. I’m happy to help find those deadbeats."

That was the moment when Diana's face morphed into absolute despair. Oh, yes. It was that look on Kevin's face. She knew it meant nothing good.

"No!", Diana yelled, jumping off of the container and coming to stand in front of Kevin. "No, no, no, no, no. Absolutely not."

"Finally coming to rescue me from my captors?", Kevin smirked as Diana looked as distressed as ever and also completely ignoring the people standing behind her.

"More like from your doom!", she exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air as the boy watched her unimpressed, leaning against the container behind him, fully knowing that this is going to take a while. "You promised me that we would go clubbing after this deal."

"No, I didn't.", Kevin said dead serious.

"My neighbors were on vacation for almost this whole week. Do you know what that means? It means I'm starving!", the girl whined, ignoring the boy's comment as she looked at him, pouting. "So if we don't get to the nearest club right now, I- I might as well die!"

"You are being overdramatic.", he replied, rolling his eyes.

"Rich coming from you!", she pointed her finger at him, as she turned around to look at Gwen for a second before turning back to her friend with crossed arms. "Does it really just take one pretty face to convince you to do something stupid?"

"That and money.", the arrogant smirk once again on his face.

"You are unbelievable, Levin.", sighed Diana, fully knowing that there was no way she could change his mind. "How come I can never make you do something for me?"

"You're not that pretty.", the said bluntly.

"Wow, well, that's just plain rude.", Diana said, with a deadpan expression.

"Ehm.", Ben called from behind the pair. "Sorry, who are you?"

Diana turned around and came face to face with the boy she met all those years ago. It was back in New York at the arcade she used to hang out in. It was also the place where she first met Kevin before meeting him again in the null void by accident.

"Hah! He doesn't even remember you.", Kevin laughed as Diana shot him a sharp look.

"Shut it, Levin.", she grumbled.

"I'm sorry... Do I know you?", Ben Tennyson asked her, oblivious as always.

"You really forgot her?", Kevin grinned, absolutely enjoying this entire situation. "I mean, I understand. She was really ugly back then."

"Hey, who are you calling ugly, ugly?", Diana narrowed her eyes.

"Really? That's the best you can come up with?", Kevin teased.

"Whatever! I'll wait in the car.", she stormed off.

Gwen and Ben watched her leave. Both were trying to remember when they saw her before, but neither could think of anyone. Kevin stepped closer so that the Plumber could uncuff him.

"Seriously, Tennyson. Don't you remember? We all met each other at the arcade in New York.", Kevin said, rubbing his wrists as they were finally free. "The 'boy' who used to follow me around, that was her."

"Wait, that was-!"

"You two can catch up later, first we must find the Knights.", the Plumber cut in.

The group followed Kevin back to his car where Diana was already sitting in. Her arms crossed while one of her legs was thrown over the other. The moment Kevin sat down in the driver's seat she turned her head away from him. Kevin rolled his eyes, he knew that her fake-mad act wouldn't last long, she wasn't that sensitive.

"I still think I should drive.", the Plumber sitting in the back said after a while of driving.

"Nobody drives the car but me.", Kevin stated snarky, making Diana snicker.

"Yeah, it's his _ride_.", she mocked.

"Talking to me again, I see.", Kevin noted, before focusing on the road again.

"Come on, we both knew I wouldn't last long.", she shrugged. "I'm not that sensitive."

"You were telling us about the aliens.", Gwen cut in as she addressed the Plumber, leading them into the previous conversation. 

"I don’t know anything about the ones we fought today.", he told them. "Never met that kind before."

"I don’t see them in here...", said Ben as he started looking through his watch. "Not that I know how to work this thing anymore."

"Maybe after you get your license, pee-wee.", taunted Kevin, feeling superior once again. 

"Who won our fight again? Oh, I remember- Me!", Ben reminded him as he leaned toward. 

"There’s been a lot of alien activity on Earth lately.", the water alien broke them up. "Don’t know why. Your grandfather thought maybe the weapons deal would lead us to whatever’s causing all the interest. Now he’s missing."

"Knowing Grandpa Max, he’s probably at a restaurant enjoying a roasted cockroach salad.", Gwen smiled as she looked over to Ben sitting next to her.

"Sounds delicious.", Diana commented sarcastically.

"It’s a wonder that all that weird food didn’t kill him.", Gwen added, trying to ease the tension, but sadly it seemed to do the exact opposite.

"He’s not dead! Stop making jokes about him!", Ben yelled out of nowhere.

Kevin stepped on the brakes, making Diana fall to her right, almost hitting her head on the window as the tires screeched. She shot Kevin a grumpy look but he chose to ignore her.

"Don’t talk to her like that.", he ordered, his finger pointing directly in Ben's face as he looked him dead in the eye, no trace of playfulness left. 

"I’ll talk to her any way I-", Diana quickly grabbed his hand, sucking out his anger, leaving Ben tired and sore. "You’re right. I’m sorry, Gwen."

Diana pulled her hand back and turned her glace outside. Only now she took notice of the stars, shining so beautifully in the distance. Gwen studied the girl for a second before turning her head to her cousin as his head was lowered in shame, unable to look her in the eyes.

"I know you’re worried about grandpa.", she said in her ever so gentle tone.

"I just wish he were here.", Ben admitted, his head still lowered while his voice was filled with sadness. "He would know what to do. He always knows what to do."

"Well, he ain’t.", the Plumber said, not sugar-coating it. "You’re the one with the Omnitrix. You’re going to have to figure out how to get things done on your own."

Kevin stepped on the gas and started to drive again. The water alien looked at the girl sitting in the front seat and inspected her.

"You're not a human, are you.", it sounded more like a statement than a question as it left his mouth.

"You are really down to earth, aren't you?", Diana smirked. "Kinda... ironic."

Kevin chuckled silently, but the Plumber stayed serious. He quickly stopped, clearing his throat, the smirk on Diana's face, however, didn't disappear until they reached their destination. 

"This is it.", Kevin said as a castle came into sight.

"Subtle.", Ben remarked sarcastically. "Nobody would think to look for Knights in here."

"You didn’t.", Kevin recalled.

"How do we get in?", the Plumber asked.

"Gwen?", Ben looked at his cousin.

Kevin decided not to park too far off. They go out of the car and walked to the entrance of the gigantic castle. Diana watched as Gwen started walking closer lifting her arms making pink glowing energy appear, surrounding her hands. She focused the energy and made it grab onto the massive wooden drawbridges, pulling it down. Gwen groaned as she slightly struggles when Diana suddenly felt a familiar energy to her left. She turned to Kevin standing next to her, looking at him with disgust.

"Ew, stop it. Right now.", Diana scolds him quietly in a warning tone.

"What? I'm not doing anything?", Kevin lifted his hands, putting on an innocent face.

"You are disgusting me, Levin.", the girl spat as she walked walking toward the now lowered bridge." Save your lustful thoughts for another time, preferably when I'm not around."

They walked into the castle, Gwen in the front. It was rather dark so the girl used her powers once again in order to provide light. As they wandered deeper inside, past the empty armors and old artifacts they noticed the missing presence within the stone walls. 

"There’s no one here.", stated Gwen. "You sure this is the right place?"

"There’s a hidden door. Keep looking.", Kevin told them, as his eyes caught a sign of some gold jewelry. 

"Maybe you should have brought a shopping cart.", Ben said from behind him as he caught on to what Kevin was doing.

They kept looking, or better everyone except Diana kept looking. She was yawning as leaned against the wall, her eyes trailing around the room as she didn't really intend to help.

"I don’t like the looks of this.", Ben said, more to himself than the others.

He walked a few steps backward and clashed against an armor, making it fall in progress as he let out a small cry.

"Hey, Hero.", Diana called him, moving toward the others. "How about next time you plan on screaming like a little girl, you give us a warning."

"Come on, man! What are you doing?", Kevin asked him.

"Sorry.", apologized, looking rather startled. "Guess I’m just a little-"

Diana's eyes widen as a look of surprise made its way on her face. She wasn't the only one, the others noticed it now too. Behind Ben, a Dragon started to stand up, bulking itself right in front of the group. 

"Paranoid!", Ben finished his sentence as he too noticed the dragon.

"Gotta admit. That's kinda cool though.", Diana said as she examines the long horns of the dragon. "You think it's real?"

"Run!", Ben shouted.

Quickly the group started running away from the winged beast as it started to trash the stone floor while chasing after them. They quickly ran out of the arch doorway that was luckily too small for the dragon to fit through. Sadly their misfortune didn't stop there. As they continued running their way was blocked by a bunch of Foreverknights now equipped with new laser lances. 

Diana sighed. All of this trouble could have been avoided if only Kevin listened and went clubbing with her.

"Nobody move! Hands on your head!", one old-school Foreverknight with a sword ordered.

"Make me!", Kevin dared him, absorbing the stone of one of the pillars.

Diana watched as Kevin heaved up the floor to make it crash down again, blowing the Knights away with the stone wave he made. More knights started to follow and started shooting at them. Gwen quickly made a shield out of her energy thingy as the Plumber started to shoot with his blaster. 

"Maybe this is a good time to transform.", Kevin said in Diana's direction.

"Wait,", she laughed. "you expect me to help?"

Suddenly the dragon from before tore down the stone wall separating it from them. As if they hadn't enough trouble already.

"Whoops.", Ben exclaimed, turning around and started heading over to the beast.

A green light appeared and at the spot, Ben stood seconds ago were now several small white aliens, ready to attack the dragon. 

"Oh, I bet this is gonna be good.", Diana smirked as she watched Ben threw himself onto the dragon bringing it to fall which resulted in a cloud of dust covering the area.

Diana heard Kevin move away from her and as soon as the vision cleared up she found him holding two Foreverknights, clashing their heads together.

"Well, might as well lean back and enjoy the show...", muttered Diana.

She watched as Kevin fought, pushing them off with such force that it made them fall on their butts.

"Ha, I taught him that.", Diana said proudly as she crossed her arms.

"No, you didn't.", protested Kevin, losing his focus.

Then the sound of a gun cocking behind him was heard but sadly Kevin didn't notice it in time.

"Kevin!", the Plumber called, jumping in front of the boy, shooting the Knight before he had the chance to shot.

The Knight hit the stone pillar ere falling to the ground next to his damaged weapon. Diana's eyes filled with fear as the man grabbed the weapon.

"Don’t do it!", the Plumber tried to warn him. "It’s busted!"

But the Knight didn't listen and fired anyway. He screamed in pain as the red light of the weapon enveloped his body.

" Hit the deck!", throwing himself on Kevin and pulling him to the ground with him.

The explosion of the weapon left a giant crater. Diana let out a breath as she saw Kevin safe before running to his side, checking for injuries.

"You good?", she asked as she helped him up.

"That’s why level-5 technology is illegal on Earth.", The Plumber explained as he got off the ground as well. "Humans aren’t ready for it."

Diana let go of his arm, but her worry didn't fade just yet.

"I owe you one.", Kevin told the alien.

"Yeah, you do.", he replied.

Diana watched them leave fight off some more Foreverknights without saying anything. Her head turned to Gwen who did a good job at beating some Knights asses, then she looked over to Ben who was still busy hanging on the dragon. 

Diana let out a sigh as she noticed that everyone was too busy to even notice her. How boring. But soon her thoughts were interrupted when a metallic screech drowned all sounds of the fighting and made the walls of the castle shake. Diana tried to block out the noise the best she could by covering her ears. Sets of stones were falling from the ceiling and the sounds of crackling electricity, metal clattering to the ground, and loud bangs were heard. Then it stopped. The metal dragon was destroyed.

"You could warn somebody when you’re gonna do that.", Kevin told Ben as he let his alien forms melt into one another.

"Seriously.", Gwen agreed as both of them teamed up against him. "I’ve got earplugs in my purse."

"Sorry.", Ben apologized, looking rather guilty.

Diana looked away and to her feet where a laser lancer laid. Her eyes wandered to the Plumber who was busy piling all the weapons together. It truly would be a shame if he got all... 

Diana quickly kicked the lancer behind a pillar without the others noticing. She yawned innocently and started walking toward Kevin.

"Great. Can we go now?", she asked him but was interrupted.

"That’s all of them.", the Plumber said as he threw the last bunch of weapons onto a pile and turned to Ben. "If you wouldn’t mind."

Ben moved closer and took a deep breath. Knowing what was about to come, Kevin, Gwen, and Diana slapped their palms over their ears. The high pitched noise left Ben's mouth, making the weapons turn into dust. Diana put her hands down when she suddenly noticed water dripping coming out of the Plumber's suit.

"Hey, are you okay?", Ben asked the Plumber, transforming back. "There’s water leaking out of your suit."

"That’s not water.", he said before sitting himself down.

"You all right, man?", Kevin asked him, Diana could tell he was worried.

"Ben, listen to me.", the Plumber addressed the boy.

"I got a tire-patch kit in the car.", Kevin cut in again. "Maybe we could-" 

"No time for that.", the alien told them firmly. "There’s nothing anyone can do."

"Let us help you.", Gwen begged.

"If you want to help me, finish the job.", he replied, his condition worsened by the second. "You have to find out where the level-5 tech is coming from."

"I will.", Ben promised.

"That’s just the tip of the iceberg, kid. Your grandpa was on the trail of something big... an alien conspiracy with Earth in the middle.", he groaned in pain. "He was working undercover. If you crack this case, maybe you can find Max and save your planet."

"I can’t do it without grandpa.", Ben whimpered. "I don’t know how."

"You, you are Ben Tennyson.", the Plumber put his hand on his shoulder, struggling for breath. "You can do anything."

Diana pressed her lips together as the suit fell onto the floor, empty. He was gone, they were on their own now. Gwen closed her eyes, unable to bear the sight of the empty suit, leaning against Kevin for support. Diana watched them from the side, not daring to say anything. One thing was clear, there was no way they would stay out of this now. This man saved Kevin's life so both of them, Kevin _and_ Diana, were in his debt.

"I’m gonna need help.", Ben finally said.

"You know I’m here for you.", Gwen told him sincerely.

"Kevin,", Ben called him. "there’s no money in this, but..." 

Kevin picked up the Plumbers Badge from the suit and looked up to the boy.

"I'm in.", Kevin said.

"Yeah, guess it won't hurt.", added Diana, standing behind the boy as she tried to come across as uncaring.

Minutes later the teens were sitting in Kevin's car while Gwen was outside trying to trace the aliens they were searching for back via 'magic'.

"Are you sure this is going to work?", Ben asked her, as he squeezed past Diana to lean out of her window. 

"Hey, know your place, Tennyson!", Diana nagged as his body was way to close to her comfort.

"No, I’ve never done this before.", Gwen called back, before muttering to herself. "But in theory, I should be able to trace the vibrations from this laser lance back to the people who used to own it."

"I thought I destroyed all those things.", Ben said as he sat back into the backseat, giving the two people in the front seat a sharp look.

"I kept one as... a souvenir.", Diana smirked.

"Lucky, huh?", Kevin joined, giving ben a smug look.

"What's up with you two?", Ben murmured, sinking into his seat with his arms crossed. 

"Hey, it’s working.", Gwen's voice was heard from outside. "Follow me!"

Kevin started the car and drove after Gwen as she floated over the road.

"I’ll follow you anywhere.", Kevin said with a dreamy look on his face.

"Gross.", Diana commented while making a face.

Suddenly Gwen started to head offroad, making the car slightly jump here and there.

"Except there!", Kevin exclaimed, sticking his head out of the side window. "Come on, Gwen! Paint job!"

Diana snickered. They drove for almost an hour before finally reaching the place they apparently were looking for. They quietly got out of the car and crept over where a guard was patrolling a mine shaft. Diana tapped Kevin's arm with her elbow, signaling him with a nod to go around and get the guard from behind while the Tennyson's were occupied with inspecting the scene. 

Naturally, Kevin understood what she was trying to tell him and sneaked up behind the guard, closely followed by Diana. With a right hook, he was down. 

"Nice job.", Diana praised, looking quite impressed.

"You hit him too hard!", Gwen called as she and Ben ran up to them.

"Not him,", Diana said as Kevin took off the mask. "it."

"It’s like the mask the aliens at the train station were wearing.", Gwen noticed as Kevin handed the mask over to Ben.

They walked over to the elevator of the mine shaft and stepped in. All of this gave Diana a bad vibe, but nevertheless, she would see this to the end.

"We’re getting warmer.", Ben spoke as he closed the barrier of the elevator.

"Not much to see down here.", commented Kevin as they went further down.

Suddenly a purple growing gigantic construct came into their sight. Gwen gasps as Diana narrowed her eyes.

"Don’t think so?", Ben asked them sarcastically.

Never before has Diana seen anything like this and she has seen a lot. It was truly enormous. Aliens were pushing carts filled with some unknown material in and out of the open doorway, loading it.

"Big!", Kevin exclaimed.

"That's what-", Diana started but Kevin quickly slapped his hand over her mouth, keeping her in check.

"It’s the mother ship.", Ben realized. "Don’t you get it? Grandpa Max has to be in there."

"So how do we get in?", asked Gwen. 

"How’s this work again?", Ben asked, whipping out the mask he snuck away.

"Photonic displacement.", Kevin answered, letting go of Diana. "You can set it to make you look like whatever you want."

Ben smirked.

"Smart, Tennyson.", said Diana, a small smile creeping up her lips. "Really not bad."

Ben put on the mask, a bright light blinded Diana and enclosed Ben's body. 

"How do I look?", he asked, now fully looking like the aliens they were hidden from.

"About the same...", Kevin told him, looking him up and down.

"Taller.", Diana smirked.

"Get in.", Gwen interrupted, holding one of those carts the alien use.

"Why?", Kevin questioned, not very keen to 'get in'.

Gwen gave him a deadpan look, showing clearly that she wasn't joking around. Diana looked from her to the black-haired boy standing beside her.

"Oh, get in, Levin.", she ordered irritated, hitting him over the head.

Kevin let out a small 'ow' but jumped into the cart anyway, instantly followed by Diana and Gwen. Ben grabbed onto the cart and started leading it up to the mothership.

"Hey, how’s it going?", Ben greeted some of the passing aliens. "What’s up?"

Diana shot Kevin a look that said something along the lines of 'What the hell?' 

"I owe you a call.", he said to another one before the cart finally stopped. "End of the line."

"Aah, It’s freezing in here.", Kevin was rubbing his arms to get some warmth before turning to Ben. "' I owe you a call'?"

"Don’t be such a baby.", said Gwen to Kevin.

"What’s next?", Diana asked as she fiddled with the zipper of her jacket, closing it.

"Gwen, see if you can find out where grandpa is.", Ben said and then rubbing his arms as well. "It is cold, though..."

"Okay, let me try something.", Gwen said.

Suddenly her eyes started glowing and her hair levitate. It was silent for a few seconds.

"I’m sorry, Ben.", she told him as her eyes stopped glowing. "Grandpa was here, maybe a couple of weeks ago, but he’s not here now."

"So, now what?", asked Kevin.

"We just get out of here, right?", Diana assumed with a hopeful undertone.

"Wrong.", Ben replied, making her sigh in disappointment. "When I was little, Grandpa Max taught me to ride my bike. He ran alongside me, holding me up while I pedaled. By the time I realized he had let go, I’d already been riding by myself for a long time."

"...What?", Diana muttered, confused by what that story had anything to do with their current situation.

"Training wheels off, guys.", Ben said, walking ahead. "We’re gonna finish the mission."

Diana pressed her lips together. Great. They followed after Ben and eventually landed in front of a massive door. It opened automatically. In the strange room was what looked like a giant lava lamp in the center. They stepped in and started looking around. Diana was walking close to Kevin. He moved close to one of the walls of the room and absorbed the metal. Diana looked at his arm what was the only part of his body covered in it and met his glance before they both turned back to the wall. Kevin raised his fist and hit the wall as hard as he could. The wall dented and opened a small crack. Ben and Gwen joined either of Diana's side as Kevin tore the metal barrier aside.

"Weapons room.", concluded Gwen as she saw the many weapons stored inside.

"Yep.", nodded Kevin.

"Sweet.", Diana smiled, grabbing one from the side and checking it out before finally noticing the looks the others were giving her. "What?"

Gwen stepped forward and lifted her hands, shooting off energy beams that destroyed all the weapons. The good thing, all weapons except one were ash. The bad thing, it made a lot of noise.

"A little louder, why don’t you?", said Ben sarcastically.

"No big deal.", Kevin defended Gwen's actions. "We’ll be out of here before they even-"

A gibberish sound cut him off. They were caught. The alien that spotted them called for backup and not a second later a bunch of them showed up. They jumped closer and signaled a warning with their tentacle.

"You were saying?", Ben asked him.

The aliens started spitting balls of sticky slime at them which Gwen quickly blocked with her 'magic' force shield.

"How about we fight them instead of each other?", she told them annoyed.

"Nobody's gonna comment on how disgusting they are?", Diana questioned, being unhelpful as always. 

She was ignored, which at this point didn't seem to surprise her anymore. Ben activated his watch and transformed.

"Humongousaur!", he exclaimed as he transformed into a colossal dinosaur looking alien. "Yes! Guess what time it is? It’s hero time!"

"Pff,", laughed Diana, holding a hand over her mouth as Ben belly-flopped on the group aliens. "how lame."

"Save some for me.", ordered Kevin as he absorbed some of the metal from the floor. "Those creeps cost me a major payday."

Gwen gave him a scary glare as her 'magic' wrapped around one of the aliens making him reconsider his choice of words.

"Also because they’re evil, and we’re against that.", he added.

Gwen turned away and Kevin began to beat the crap out of the aliens. Diana sighed, raising the lancer she saved, and started shooting one alien after the other while Gwen shot the other once on her right with her energy beams. Diana yawned as she shot one last alien before noticing that there were no more left.

"We kicked butt!", Kevin yelled, still pumped.

"So far, but there could be hundreds of these guys in here.", Ben reminded them. 

"We destroyed all the weapons, well...", Gwen said before turning to the one Diana so carelessly dropped on the floor, shooting an energy beam at it. "Now we have. Why not just leave?"

"Good call. Let’s-", Ben stopped as he noticed someone approach. "Oh, man."

"What are you creatures doing on my ship?", the different looking alien asked. "I do not repeat myself to lower life-forms. What are you doing on my ship?"

"But he just did.", Diana noted with furrowed eyebrows.

"Did you just call me a lower life-form?", Kevin asked the creature back. 

"I’m pretty sure he did.", Ben told him.

"And while he may have a point,", Gwen gave the boy's a pointy look. "it’s rude to say so."

"Hey, I'm not a lower life-form.", Diana protested quietly.

"Not now, Diana.", said Kevin.

"You vermin would dare mock a Highbreed commander?!", the tall alien yelled.

"I’d mock anybody who uses the word 'mock.'", Ben talked back.

Kevin clenched his jaw and run up the Highbreed ready to punch him in the face. The Highbreed swung his fist but Kevin dodged. However, as Kevin jumped up the alien hit him right across the chest throwing him against the next wall.

"Kevin!", Gwen called worried.

"Mah, he'll live.", Diana waved her hand.

The alien jumped down to their level and started moving toward Kevin as Gwen shoot her energy at the alien's wrists, wrapping them up. The creature looked at the glowing energy and pulled on it, making the girl gasp in surprise and crash into the metal pipes, placed around the room.

"Did he hurt you?", asked Kevin worried, rushing to her side to check up on her.

"No.", Gwen answered, after standing up.

"Well, I’m gonna hurt him.", he declared angrily.

Ben walked in front of them to stop them from doing something reckless. 

"He’s too strong.", he told them. "I’ll hold him off. You guys get outside."

"I’m not leaving you to fight that thing by yourself.", said Gwen stubbornly.

"No time to argue.", Ben said firmly. "Kevin, get her out of here!"

"You heard the man.", the boy said, grabbing Gwen by her waist.

"Let me go!", Gwen protested trying to get Kevin's arms off her.

"Diana.", Kevin called her giving her a serious look.

Diana looked to the side and let out a sigh. She knew what he wanted her to do.

"Alright, alright.", Diana gave in, transforming into her real form. "No one's pukes, these shoes are new."

She grabs onto Kevin's arm and teleported them out of the mothership. Gwen stumbled out of Kevin's arms and collapsed on the ground whereas Kevin and Diana kept perfectly standing.

"What- How, did you do that?", Gwen asked Diana, now for the first time really looking at her new form. "What are you?"

"Can we do the 20 question thing later?", the girl asked, crossing her arms while transforming back into her human disguise. 

"Right.", Gwen nodded, still a little stunned by Diana's new appearance. "I need to go help, Ben!"

"You not going in there.", Kevin told her strictly.

"Yeah, he probably gets his butt kicked right now.", snickered Diana.

"Not helping.", said Kevin through gritted teeth.

"That's exactly why he needs my help.", said Gwen persistently.

"Hey...", Diana looked up as she saw two figures on the ship move. "Isn't that Ben?" 

The pair looked up to where the girl was pointing at. 

"Ben!", Gwen exclaimed as the second figure yeeted Ben's alien form off the ship.

She focused her energy on the gigantic alien and managed to catch him and pull him toward their direction. Ben landed a few feet away from Gwen and fell on his knees. He groaned in pain.

"Guess you showed him.", Kevin assumed sarcastically.

"He’s going to destroy the town.", Ben informed them as he got on his feet.

"How?", Gwen asked concerned.

"I don’t know, but he’s going to do it now unless I stop him.", Ben said rather dramatic.

A loud booming sound interrupted their conversation. They turned to the ship, seeing as it started up, releasing a little bit of dust as one red light after the other went on. Then the noise got louder and a load of dust blasted right into their faces. Gwen quickly made an energy globe around them to protect them right in time before fire blew into their direction. The ship took off, ascending higher and higher into the sky. As it was at a safe distance, Gwen made the shield disappear. Ben immediately made his alien form grow bigger and ran off.

"Great...", Diana muttered as she watched Ben jump on top of the ship.

"Come on!", Gwen called to Kevin and Diana, running after her cousin making stair-like energy fields to walk on.

"Eh, yeah, no.", Diana said, transforming into her true form and levitated next to Gwen.

Kevin watched the two girls leave without him, sighing deeply. Shaking his head, he followed after Gwen, jumping onto her energy fields and catching up to them.

"It's heading to the hospital!", Gwen said, running faster.

"Huh, That's actually not so dumb.", Diana said, keeping up with the girl. "But how will they destroy it?"

Just then a red beam came out of the ship, leaving a trail of destruction behind.

"Oh."

They tried to move faster but the hospital was still way too far away from them. The beam was already by the hospital parking lot and got closer at a terrifyingly fast pace. It was about to hit the hospital when the beam started to flicker. The mothership pulled up the beam and started to fly higher. 

Finally, they arrived at the scene and stopped. The parking lot was an absolute mess but luckily the hospital was unharmed. They looked up at the UFO and saw Ben barely holding onto the outside of the ship.

"How long do you think he'll last?", Diana asked, squinching her eyes in an attempt to see better.

At that exact moment, Ben slipped off and fell several meters down to the earth's surface.

"Maybe I should stop asking...", Diana pressed her lips together.

"Oh no, Ben.", Gwen muttered as she started moving again.

"Wait, Gwen.", Diana called her. "I'll get us there fast."

Gwen turned to the girl and nodded. Diana held onto both of them and teleported them to the crash site where she transformed back into her disguise. They were standing on the edge of the crater created by the giant dinosaur alien. A loud crash was heard from behind them, which was probably the mothership smashing against a mountain or something. Gwen immediately jumped down to check on her cousin closely followed by Kevin and Diana.

"How’d you find me?", questioned Ben as they came into sight.

"Looked for the front end of the big trench you dug with your face.", answered Diana, smirking.

"You okay?", Gwen asked him concerned.

"Humongousaur skinned his knee, and it was still skinned when I turned back.", explained Ben while looking down on his leg.

"So what happens now?", asked Kevin.

"We keep looking for Grandpa Max.", said Ben determined. "Guess the best way to do that is to solve the case he was working on."

"Easy as pie.", said Gwen before looking over to Kevin. "Anybody know how to make a pie?"

"Listen.", Ben turned to Kevin. "We’ve had a lot of problems in the past, but I wanted to say thanks. We wouldn’t have made it without you."

Ben held out his hand, but Kevin didn't take it and Diana knew exactly what that meant. Man, she just wanted a peaceful evening and now she would probably be stuck doing _good_ for _others_ without wanting anything in return... _forever._ Diana groaned in frustration as she slapped her face into her hands.

"You still won’t make it without me.", said Kevin, making Diana groan even louder in the background.

Ben lowered his hand when Gwen finally realized what Diana's groan and Kevin's answer meant.

"Are you saying you want to help us?", she asked the boy.

"I’m saying I made somebody a promise.", he responded. "I’m seeing this through to the end."

"Then you can shake hands, right?", Ben said, holding his hand out once again.

Gwen looked over to Kevin and Diana and put her hand on top of Ben's. Kevin smiled and put his on top as well. The three of them looked over to a very displeased looking Diana.

"You in too?", asked Gwen.

"Do I have to?", whined Diana, earning her a kick into the leg from Kevin. "Okay, okay. I'm in. I'll help you... 'til the end."

Diana stepped toward and put her hand on as well.

"It’s hero time.", announced Ben, and now even Diana had to smile a bit.


	3. Everybody Talks About The Weather

"Can’t this thing go any faster?", Ben asked as they were driving past a 'speed limit 25' sign.

"Yes.", answered Kevin.

"We’re still going the same speed.", said Ben being as obnoxious as always.

"It’s called the speed limit.", explained Kevin. "Fastest we’re going tonight."

"But you said-", Ben was cut off.

"I said, 'could', not 'would'.", replied Kevin sassily.

"Yeah, so not the problem here.", interrupted Diana, really irritated as she shot Kevin a deadly glare from the BACKSEAT. "The real problem is, why is she sitting in my seat!?"

"My mom’s going to kill me if I’m late getting home again.", moaned Ben sinking back into his seat.

"Hello?", Diana cut in. "Did anyone hear what I just said??"

"Huh. If she grounds you, it’ll be just me and Gwen.", Kevin noted. "Tough break."

"What do you mean, it would be just you and Gwen?", demanded Diana even more irritated. "What am I? Air?"

"No, Diana. Air would be silent.", said Kevin with a smug look on his face.

"You think I’d go with you if Ben wasn’t here?", questioned Gwen as she studied Kevin closely.

"Yeah.", he smirked boldly. "I got roguish charm."

"Ohh, you just lost her, Levin.", laughed Diana as she noticed the unpleased look on Gwen's face.

"Hey, backseaters are to be quiet.", hissed Kevin rudely, making her scoff and cross her arms.

Suddenly their childish banter was disrupted by a ringing sound coming out of Kevin's shirt pocket. Diana furrowed her eyebrows at that, didn't she accidentally break Kevin's phone last week?

"Phone call for Mr. Roguish Charm.", taunted Gwen as she looked over to him.

"I don’t have a cell.", said Kevin, honest.

"Bet it’s one of your many girlfriends.", she continued as she reached into his pocket.

"You think, that guy gets any action?", snickered Diana but was quickly shut up with a harsh glare from Kevin through the rearview mirror.

"Hey.", Gwen looked down at the device she just pulled out. "That’s your Plumber’s badge. What’s it doing?"

"Don’t know.", answered Kevin, looking over. "New to me."

Out of nowhere, it started glowing, activated what looks to be a map.

"Whoa.", exclaimed Kevin surprised.

"It’s some kind of map.", noted Ben from the backseat. "I bet it’s a GPS for badges."

" So why is one of them flashing?", asked Kevin by further inspection.

"Eyes on the road, Levin.", Diana instructed in between.

"It’s got to be a message from Grandpa Max.", declared Ben. "He’s telling us where he is."

"You think?", Gwen asked him, a little hopeful.

"Okay, that’s worth breaking some traffic laws.", announced Kevin, speeding up the car.

After a few more minutes of Kevin's horrible driving. They parked in front of the building the badge was telling them to head to. They got out of the car and stood before a house in the middle of a cornfield.

"Grandpa Max is here?", asked Gwen as they looked up the tall wall.

"The blinking light on the map is here.", said Kevin. "Guess we’ll find out the rest soon enough."

"He’s inside the building.", stated Ben confidently. "Come on."

"Let me dump the jacket first.", interrupted Kevin. "It must be 90 degrees."

"That’s what you get, trying to look cool all the time.", said Ben, as Gwen and Diana walked ahead.

"Woah.", Diana muttered when she noticed a giant hole in the wall.

"Hey, guys.", called Gwen.

Ben and Kevin walked up to them.

"What do you make of this?", Gwen asked them.

"Big hole?", examined Kevin.

"Helpful." remarked Gwen annoyed.

"We better check it out.", suggested Ben.

Diana sighed as they walked closer for further inspection. 

"Hello?", Ben called out, as soon as they were inside. "Anybody here?"

He moved closer to the desk standing in the middle of the dark and picked up a glowing device.

"Found what we were tracking.", said Ben as he turned around showing them a Plumbers Badge.

"You think it belongs to grandpa?", asked Gwen, unsure.

"If it does, he’s out there somewhere, going after whatever made this hole.", concluded Ben.

"God, does that mean we have to search for them now?", asked Diana, already knowing the answer.

Gwen stepped forward and took the Badge, for a moment her eyes started to glow.

"Got him. He's not too far away.", she told them.

"Then what are we waiting for?", said Ben.

Diana let out another sigh. Being a goody-goody nice person is being unnecessarily exhausting. Kevin gave her a side glance as he noticed her sigh again and slapped her across the back.

"Ow!", Diana yelled, sending him death stares. "What was that for?"

"Keep it up, slowpoke.", he teased.

"Quiet, Levin.", she ordered annoyed as she started following along. "You're still not fully forgiven for putting me in the backseat."

They walked through the cornfield for a few minutes when suddenly they started to hear voices in the distance.

"That’s it! Take him down!"

"Stay back!"

"Guys, quick!", said Ben, running ahead as screams were heard.

Diana could feel the fear coming from the direction they were heading in as they quickly fasten their pace. Arriving at the scene moments later, they found several police officers laying on the ground with only an alien standing. 

"I didn’t mean to- Are you okay?", he tried to asked when Gwen put a barrier between him and the humans. "Huh?!"

"Guy looks like Heatblast.", observed Kevin as Gwen pulled her barrier back.

"I noticed.", replied Ben.

"Want me to kick his butt for you?", Kevin smirked. "It’ll be like old times."

"Thanks anyway.", spoke Ben sarcastically, activating his watch.

He slammed down the button of it, transforming into a flying, batlike alien.

"Jetray!", he exclaimed.

"Stay away from me!", 'Heatblast' yelled, completely terrified as he started shooting fire at Ben.

Ben dodged the beam of fire whilst Gwen made an energy shield protecting her along with Kevin and Diana. Somehow the girl didn't like this at all. She didn't like how the energy of the unknown alien spiked the moment Ben transformed. He was completely petrified. Ben managed to push the fire alien to the ground but soon their places switched and Ben was the one on his back.

"Hey! Get off me!", he cried before the fire-head escaped.

Ben followed quickly after him and both disappeared into the night. Gwen deactivated her shield and the three teens were left in silence.

"Something isn't right.", muttered Diana mostly to herself.

"What do you mean?", asked Gwen.

"I don't know, he just...", Diana looked up to them with an serious expression. "Did he really strike you as a threat? To me... he seemed rather terrified."

"You are right.", Gwen agreed, holding her chin.

"How about we go back to the car?", suggested Kevin. "We could find them faster that way."

"What about them?", asked Gwen, pointing to the unconscious policemen.

Kevin and Diana looked at each other before shrugging.

"They'll be fine.", Diana sang, carelessly.

"But-"

"Just leave them, Gwen.", she grabbed the girl's shoulders, pushing her in the direction of Kevin's car. "They are adults, they can watch out for themselves. We have alien problems on our hands, that has priority."

After their little stroll through the cornfield, which mostly consisted of Diana having to watch Kevin sending Gwen heart eyes, they finally reached the car. Sadly, Gwen once again got front-seat privileges making Diana grumpily sit in the back.

"So what now?", asked Gwen.

"We should find Ben, obviously.", replied Kevin as he started up the car.

"' Obviously'", mocked Diana, making Kevin glare. "How we gonna do that, genius?"

Just as she finished her sentence, a bright light exploded from the cornfield. Kevin turned to her with a smug look, making her cross her arms.

"Yeah, yeah. Just drive.", she said sassily, rolling her eyes.

Kevin slowly started driving towards where the light came from.

"Hey,", Gwen suddenly said. "You see this moving light's over there?"

"Maybe the police officers woke up after all...", Diana spoke as she too noticed the lights.

"They probably started looking for that 'Heatblast' guy again.", Kevin said, fishing out his Plumber Badge and handing it to Gwen. "Try to look for Ben with the Badge. They would only get in our way, we have to keep them away."

"And how you gonna do that? Run them over?", asked Diana, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Maybe.", Kevin smirked, earning a pointy glare from Gwen, who had the activated Plumber Badge map in her hand.

"Ben is over there.", she pointed to the direction the lights were heading. "I think he's running away from them."

"Hold on tight.", said Kevin before speeding up.

Kevin drove near the location where Ben was, seeing two policemen with flashlights walking dangerously close to the spot. He slowly drove closer.

"What are you doing?", Gwen asked suspiciously.

"What does it look like I'm doing?", he responded smirking.

The cops turned in their direction and Kevin stepped on the gas. The two men had barely enough time to jump out of the way before Kevin could hit them.

"Kevin!", Gwen yelled out of shock. "Were you seriously trying to run them over!"

Diana started laughing in the backseat.

"That's not funny!", snapped Gwen, but it only resulted in making her laugh even harder.

Seconds later a siren was heard from behind them. They were trailing after them as Kevin attempted to get away like a mad man. To be fair though, he probably was.

"Woah.", exclaimed Kevin as a Tractor thingy blocked their way, stepping on the brakes merely seconds away from crashing. 

"All right, Alan.", the Officer said as he got out of his car, walking up to Kevin's window shining the flashlight at it. "You and your friend get out of the car, right now!"

Kevin reeled down the window, smirking up at the man. 

"Is there a problem, officer?", he asked, innocently.

The cop glared at him as he bends down shinning the flashlight inside. Gwen waves at him while Diana squinted her eyes, blended my the light. With great disappointment, the man realized that the person he was looking for wasn't in the car. He straightens up and took out a paper, writing something down. Diana knew exactly what was coming. 

"Can I see your license please.", the man asked Kevin in an unfriendly tone.

"With pleasure.", said Kevin, smug as always.

After a few more minutes of meaningless casualties, they finally were let go. Kevin rolled his window back up and the policemen walked back to their car, driving away.

"That didn’t go too bad.", said Kevin holding the paper the police officer just gave him. "We led them away from Ben, and all we got was this."

"Kevin!", exclaimed Gwen. "That’s a 400$ speeding ticket."

"I know.", said Kevin opening the glove compartment which was already full of speeding tickets, and put it in before closing it again. "I think it’s a personal record."

"Yeah,", Diana looked over their shoulders, crossing her arms. "I'm not paying for that."

Kevin started the car and began driving to Ben's location with the help of the badge.

"Grandpa Max doesn’t have anything to do with this, does he?", ask Gwen as her glance was directed to the passing landscape.

"Nope.", answered Kevin.

"So that badge belongs to the 'Heatblast' guy.", she concluded. "Where do you think he got it?"

"He doesn’t act like a Plumber.", stated Kevin. "He’s probably just a Plumber’s kid."

Diana looked at Kevin but didn't say anything. 

"Why would a policeman give his son a badge?", asked Gwen curiously.

"To keep real Plumbers from arresting them for interplanetary trespass.", explained Kevin. "A badge is better than a passport."

"I’m not following.", admitted Gwen.

"Heatblast Jr.,", picked Kevin up. "is probably part human. Humans with alien ancestors are actually pretty common. Most of them have superpowers."

"Common?", asked Gwen, looking over to Diana. "Does that mean that you too...?"

"No, at least I don't think so.", Diana answered, unable to meet her eyes.

"You don't know?", Gwen looked surprised.

"Well, you see... ", Diana licked her lips as she started to feel a little nervous. "My species... is a little special in terms of determining who is a full-blooded one or not."

"What is that suppose to mean?", asked Gwen even more confused.

"I... I am a Lucifianien.", she explained, slowly. "Unlike other aliens, my species doesn't have a planet. We live amongst others in secret... sort of like parasites. The only way you can tell if you are a half breed Lucifianien is when your mother is another species and gives birth to you. Normally Lucifianiens hatch out of eggs and get abandoned before they emerge... It's complicated."

Gwen had a feeling she overstepped some boundaries with her question. It was the way Diana was unable to meet her glance and shifted around in her seat as if she was uncomfortable. Gwen turned to the front again and gave Kevin a side glance, he too seemed awfully tense. Gwen then realized that she had just learned something very important piece of information about Diana. She was abandoned by her parents before she even was born. Diana... was an Orphan.

"So this 'Heatblast' guy, is half-human.", Gwen stated, trying to get back to the topic.

"Yeah.", Kevin answered. "So are you. You get your powers through your grandpa."

Gwen looked at him with a questioning look.

"I thought you knew.", said Kevin after a while.

"I get my powers from magic talismans and books.", scoffed Gwen.

"Yeah, right.", the boy laughed. "Magic."

The rest of the car ride was silent. Gwen would keep giving Diana side glances throw the rearview mirror thinking she didn't catch up on it already. Gwen must probably pity her for not having parents, but not having parents wasn't the problem. Diana got over the fact that her parents didn't want her pretty quickly. It was the way of their species, not many Lucifianiens would come back to the birth day of their children to claim them. It was uncommon, but not completely unheard of. Sadly since Lucifianiens were a species that mainly lived in secret there is not much known about them except for the fact that they existed. The little knowledge about her kind often made Diana frustrated. Growing up knowing she was different but not knowing why or how was the hardest thing by far. Having no parents on a planet like the earth wasn't easy either. She was tossed from one Foster Family to another and finally ended in a catholic boarding school for girls. 

"We are here.", said Kevin, ripping Diana out of her thoughts.

He parked the car and shut off the engine. Kevin and Gwen got out of the car, leaving Diana to pull herself together before stepping out as well. They walked over to Ben as he stood up.

"Who’s the squirt?", asked Kevin, looking over to the kid sitting not too far away. 

He transformed into 'Heatblast' and moved closer.

"Ah.", Kevin nodded.

Ben turned to the boy and chipped off a little bit of his... skin, stone, body? Diana didn't know.

"Ow!", exclaimed the boy as he looked up to Ben.

"That didn’t hurt.", said Ben, moved over to the wooden floor, crouching down. "I want to show you guys what I saw when I was flying over the cornfield."

He started drawing some kind of circles into the floor. The others walked behind him to get a better look at what he was showing them.

"It’s not exact, but it looks like this.", he explained. "Those aren’t roads burned through the cornfields. Those are crop circles."

"Like those things aliens leave to find their way around?", asked the kid.

"More like those things farmers leave to fool city folk.", corrected Kevin.

"It’s not like we don’t know a bunch of aliens.", argued Ben, like a smartass.

"True.", admitted Kevin.

"Also moot.", added Gwen. "I don’t think these are crop circles. I think they’re circuit boards."

Gwen walked outside, making a staircase out of her energy fields. She wanted to get as high as possible. 

"How are we doing this, again?", asked the kid as he walked alongside Gwen with the others following behind.

"Magic.", she answered.

"It ain’t magic.", said Kevin, stubbornly.

"Oh. Right.", remembered Gwen, pointing her finger at Kevin as she looked over to Ben. "Kevin says I’ve got superpowers because of my alien bloodline."

"Huh?"

"He is right, though.", defended Diana, crossing her arms as she stared at Gwen. "If you don't believe that it is your grandfather, what about your grandmother? What do you know about her?"

"Could you guys concentrate on what’s important?", interrupted the kid.

"You don’t think what we’re standing on is important?", doubted Kevin looking down at the glowing energy field. 

"Stop teasing him, Kevin.", said Gwen, before turning to the flaming boy. "We’re high enough to see."

They turned to the field, looking at it from above. 

"Like I said, these aren’t crop circles.", she said. "They’re circuit boards. I think this whole valley is some kind of giant machine."

"Hey, check it out.", called Ben pointing at some lights flashing in the distance.

"See? I told you I didn’t do it.", said the kid, making Ben smile at him.

"Let’s go down and take a closer look.", he suggested.

"Yeah.", agreed the kid. "Down is good."

"What's wrong, kid? Afraid of heights?", teased Diana, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "Weren't you the one fight with Ben in the middle of the sky?"

Minutes later the teens were wandering through the cornfield, ready to investigate the strange lights they've seen before. Ben was leading them ahead closely followed by Diana. When they were close enough they crouched down so that they will not be seen. In front of them was a person in protection suits, holding some kind of metal-detector looking machine that was causing the light they saw before.

"What do you think they’re doing?", the kid asked them loudly while standing up but was quickly shut up by the others.

"Sorry.", he whispered.

The whirring stopped as the machine was turned off. The person waved to another one standing a few meters away, signaling him that he was done. The other one looked down on the controller he was holding, switching a lever. Suddenly a bright light erupted from the crop circles. Diana's eyes widen as a gigantic tower grew out of the ground, the sound of crackling electricity and thunder filled the air. The clear sky turned dark, clouds appeared out of seemingly nothing. A few lightings flashed and then it got colder. Diana shivered as the cool air hit her face and snowflakes gently settled in her hair. Ben slowly got up from his crouching position and walked out of the crops to the even, crop-free part. Alan bends down to where some of the snow already fallen, making it melt as he moved his hand closer. Kevin and Diana stood next to each other as they shivered from the cold, then their glace landed on the kid. They smirked at each other and walked over to the kid's flaming head, holding their hands to it as if he was a campfire.

"Cut it out.", he said as he noticed what they were doing.

"Sorry, man.", apologized Kevin, halfhearted. 

"It’s cold out here.", added Diana.

"The tower is some kind of weather machine.", noticed Ben.

But their conversation was cut short as the wailing of sirens in the distance was heard. They turned away from the tower and were greeted by the sight of a police car arriving.

"Not again.", sighed Diana.

"All right, freeze!", the cop ordered, walking closer while his colleges stayed in a safe distance, holding their guns.

"Already working on it.", said Kevin smartly as Diana snickered beside him.

"I took it easy on you, Alan, out of respect for your folks, but you built this machine.", stated the policeman. "You’re stealing all the heat to feed your powers."

"Seriously, you think a child could build a machine like that all by himself?", Diana furrowed her eyebrows, unable to believe how ridiculous this adult was acting.

"It’s not like that.", Alan tried as he stepped closer.

"Stay away from him.", another cop commanded pointing his gun at him.

"Take your own advice.", told him Kevin, as he snatched the gun away from him, absorbing some of the metal.

"Hey!", he exclaimed, moving back to a safe distance as Kevin broke his gun in half. 

"He’s one of them.", the other cop called. "They’re all freaks!"

Diana bit her teeth together as she felt her skin boil in anger. How dare he call them freaks. How dare he accuse them like that. How dare he treating an innocent boy like a criminal.

"Slow down.", Ben tried to calm the man down.

Suddenly two of the cops were shot by blue light, freezing them into place. Several of the suit-wearing people appeared out of the cornfield, pointing their weapons at them.

"What did you do to my men?!", the officer exclaimed, slowly backing up from the people creeping closer with their weird devices.

One of them fired their weapon again, aiming at the policeman as Gwen rushed forward, blocking the shot with her force field. The girl tried her best to keep it uphold when another one in a protection suit fired.

"Ah,", she groaned, turning back to the group. "Can’t take too many of these."

"You don’t have to.", Ben assured her before activated his watch, transforming into one of his aliens. "Swampfire!"

His hands caught on fire, shooting the fame balls at the attackers. Ben hit two of them before jumping off, blasting one away. Kevin closely followed, taking two of them out. Then Gwen ran up to the boys and took out another, throwing him with her 'magic' into a tractor. Diana remained beside the kid, her arms crossed as she watched the fight playing out in front of her. Two of the weird people came closer, making her take a step back but before she had to do anything, the kid knocked them out.

"Woah, pretty good kid.", Diana smirked.

"Why aren't you doing anything?", the kid asked her accusingly.

"Ha! Me?", Diana sniggered, shaking her head. "Nah, fighting is not my scene."

Diana turned back to the fight. In the meanwhile, one of the cops managed to throw one of the attackers to the ground and Ben fought off the last one. He threw him over his shoulder, accidentally ripping his mask off. As he fell to the ground, he revealed his hideous octopus alien face.

"Oh, man.", Ben grumbled turning to Kevin. "These guys are like the aliens we fought."

"We are the DNAliens, and we will destroy you all.", the alien spoke, ready to attack Ben.

"Whatever.", Ben knocked him out.

"Hey.", Diana narrowed her eyes, walking up to the boys. "Remember how cold it was on their ship?"

"Yeah", Ben nodded. "I think they need cold weather, so they’re making some."

"My thought exactly.", Diana agreed. 

"Kind of makes sense.", Kevin looked over to Diana.

"Of course.", Ben said. "That means the big alien plot is they’re installing an air conditioner."

Diana focused on Ben when suddenly she saw something moving behind him. Her eyes widen as she instinctively transformed into her real form, taking Ben's arm.

"Watch out!", she exclaimed, pulling him a little to the side and teleporting a few feet away.

"What?", Ben shuttered disorientated, completely confused by the sudden change of location.

"Ben?", Gwen exclaimed, just as confused as he was before being hit by blue light, freezing her on the spot.

Kevin tried to rush to her but too was hit by the weapon. Diana's heart stopped as she watched the boy freeze in place. Two aliens creeped out of the cornfield, managed to shoot the remaining officers. They walked toward the kid as Ben started to jump into action, fighting one-off. One of the aliens fired at the kid, but nothing happened.

"Guess I’m too hot to handle.", he said smug, when suddenly he was cornered by a lot of aliens. "Whoa. Wait a minute, guys."

Diana teleported next to the kid, stretching her arm out, taking one of them via telekinesis, and threw him against another one. In the meantime, Ben finished beating up a few other ones and turned in the direction of Diana and the boy.

"Need some help?", He asked, watching as a weird-looking alien hover next to Alan.

"No, thanks.", Diana narrowed her eyes, lifting both her arms in the air.

A second later, the Aliens were shot up into the sky. Diana transformed back into her human form, gently landing on the ground. Ben stared at her with a surprised expression as the aliens fell back onto the ground, unconscious.

"You beat them!", the kid exclaimed, strongly impressed. "Didn't you say fighting wasn't your scene?"

"It's not.", Diana insisted, looking over to Kevin. "Come on, help me unfreeze him."

"Not now.", Ben cut her off, not mentioning what he just witnessed. "There are plenty more where those came from. We need to take down that weather tower."

"But—"

"Take care of the guys at the top so I can get close.", Ben told the kid.

"I don’t know if I can do it.", he said, honest. "I’m really bad at flying."

"Yeah.", Ben laughed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I had trouble at first, too. Let me show you a trick I learned."

Ben then turned back to Diana. She was looking over to Kevin, trying to mask her worry for the boy as good as she could. 

"Diana. I will need your help taking down the Tower.", he said, catching her attention. "We will unfreeze them later, I promise."

"Yeah, let's get this over with.", Diana transformed back and started hovering past them toward the Tower.

The boys watched her float away. Ben sent a quick last look to his friends before helping Alan dig out a rock to fly with. Diana was already several feet away as she heard the younger boy take off. She watched as he flew up to the top of the tower, DNAliens already shooting at him.

"Come on.", Ben said, running past her as Alan gave him the go.

Diana let out a sigh, before flying next to him, keeping up his speed. Two Aliens came running in front of the Tower, ready to protect it but were quickly taken out when Diana lifted her hand, tossing them to the side. Ben ran past her, gripping the Tower, trying to make it fall. 

"Gonna need some leverage for this stunt.", he muttered as his feet literally grew roots into the ground. "Okay. Here goes."

Diana raised her hands, helping Ben to overthrow the Tower. Slowly it lifted out of the ground, tipping over to the side, landing on the ground with a loud crash. Diana felt the strength leaving her body, making her levitate closer to the ground. She turned back into her human form as she and Ben watched the clouds clear up and the snow stopped falling from the sky. Diana turned to the kid who just joined their side.

"Now.", Diana spoke. "Let's unfreeze the others."

A few minutes later the three went back to the others. Ben and Alan started unfreezing Kevin and Gwen first, then the police officers. Diana felt very relieved when Kevin was finally back to normal. Unfreezed and sarcastic. Just how she liked him.

"Okay.", Kevin said as he came to stop next to Diana. "That was weird."

Diana didn't say anything, she just smiled at him. Partly because she was still exhausted from using up almost all of her energy. She struggled to keep up her posture and form.

"Hey, you okay?", Kevin furrowed his brows as he noticed her unusual quietness.

"What happened?", the police officer who just unfreezed asked, helping Diana avoid Kevin's question.

"Alan defeated the aliens, destroyed their weather machine, then used his heat powers to free everyone from suspended animation.", Ben summarised.

"We helped.", Kevin cut in.

"But not much.", insisted Ben, making Kevin frown before turning to Alan. "We were wondering if you would join our team. We could use a powerhouse like you. Lots of aliens to fight out there."

"He can’t.", the cop interrupted, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "He’s gonna be too busy helping me round up any other aliens who might still be hiding in town."

"Even so, any time you need me, just call.", Alan said confidently.

"Alright then, let's bring you guys home.", Kevin cut in, smirking at Ben. "Bet your mom has some killing to do."

"Oh, man.", Ben groaned as he and Gwen started walking toward Kevin's car.

"Diana, are you-", Kevin turned to the girl as she tripped and fell into his arms. "Woah, everything alright?"

The girl didn't answer. Her form started flickering, turning her skin from her human skin into her deep red-one every few seconds. She shut her eyes together, trying to focus on her human form. Overusing her powers made it hard for her to maintain her human disguise, she just needed a few seconds of rest to go back to normal. Diana would be fine, she knew that, but Kevin didn't. Her eyes twinkled with mischief before she let out a small groan.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?", Kevin held her close in his arms, looking over her exhausted body in distress. "Did you overuse your powers?"

"Kevin. Kevin, come closer.", Diana reached to him, touching his cheek melodramatically. "I-... I need to... go... clubbing."

"Is she serious right now?", Gwen asked, puzzled by the scene playing in front of her eyes.

"Hang in there!", Kevin scooped her up in his arms, carrying her in bridal style while running to his car. "Don't pass out on me!"

"No, not the backseat!", Diana protested, coughing a little as Kevin opened the door of the backseat. "The front one! The front- urgh..."

"Diana!", Kevin yelled in panic. 

"What is going on?", Ben asked perplexed as he and Gwen took seats in the Backseat.

"Not now, Tennyson!", Kevin snapped, immediately starting the car, driving like a mad man. 

"Geez, can you not drive so fast? I think I will throw up.", Diana spoke, now looking perfectly fine.

"..What!? I thought you were dying!", Kevin yelled looking over to the girl.

"I just love how you fall for that every time.", she laughed. "But for real though, my energy is almost gone. I'm really hungry so you gotta drive me to the nearest club."

"So you transformed?", Kevin asked her after a moment of silence. "Without anyone asking you to?"

"You really love me a lot, don't you? I felt your fear spike back there.", Diana changed the topic while smirking at Kevin, who's cheeks have now turned red in embarrassment. "Were you afraid that I would leave you all alone in this big wide universe? Aww, Kevyy."

Diana reached over and grabbed his cheek, pinching it. Kevin kept driving with an annoyed expression on his face but didn't do anything about it. Gwen and Ben were rather confused by this. Neither of them has figured out what kind of relationship Kevin and Diana had. 

"I love you too.", Diana teased him in a silly baby voice. "Yes, yes, I do. Aw, bu bu bu bu."

"Cut it out!", Kevin slapped her hand away.

Diana smiled, leaning back into her seat as she watched Kevin rub his hurting cheek. She would never admit it out loud, but she was thankful for meeting him all those years ago in New York. He was the most important person in her life and she knew he felt the same way about her. They were siblings, not by blood, but that didn't change the way they felt for each other. He was her brother and she was his sister. Nothing would ever change that.


End file.
